


Doing Things My Own Way

by ColorWithMarker



Series: Sharon Carter Appreciation [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Gen, SHIELD Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6287050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorWithMarker/pseuds/ColorWithMarker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharon would rather earn respect her own way instead of giving everyone what they wanted.</p>
<p>For Sharon Carter Appreciation Month.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It started on the first day of training, in July 2004, in her second lecture, when the instructor’s head turned up while doing roll-call and whispered Sharon’s last name in astonishment. The unaware looked at her with furrowed brows of confusion. The knowing have wide eyes at first that quickly narrow in annoyance as the teacher praises Aunt Peggy for two-and-a-quarter minutes. One girl had a neutral expression. Sharon shrunk in her seat slightly and just smiled at the teacher in acknowledgement.

Day three, the first day of hand-to-hand combat, when heading toward the locker room, an arm shot out and caught Sharon in the neck. She coughed and choked, and she looked for the arm responsible for hurting her. She saw nothing but some sneering faces. She caught the same sneering girls trying to break into her locker. Fortunately, the coaches gave her a private one in their offices. Unfortunately, she heard more whispers around her.

She quickly became associated with the word “elite”. “Favoritism”. “Bitch”. On one occasion, on the sixty-third day, when she had the highest grade in the marksman course, she was called “cunt”.

She switched roommates ten times before she finished her first year. Three of them had destroyed her personal belongings, and put through several hours of tedious work and extra exercises on top of paying her every penny’s worth they destroyed.

She went on two dates, with two different people, one of whom seemed to worship the ground she walked on to the point where Sharon was creeped out, and the other who brought two of their friends in an attempt to jump her. Sharon had been more than prepared with the taser she started carrying around.

Fury had to give her a lecture about carrying weapons, and how many others she could conceal on her persons at any given time. Someone found out that Sharon was constantly armed – no one under level four ranking was allowed to carry anything, not even a Swiss army knife – and everyone grew more physical. Bumping her over. “Accidental” slaps and trips. One girl was brave enough to throw her textbook at Sharon, taking her out of classes for two weeks with a minor concussion.

But it doesn’t stop Sharon. Her grades are always in the top one percent. She was one of the first to complete physical tests. She trained as much as she could, and gave herself one hour of relaxation every day. Her diet was well-balanced with a biweekly cheat-day reserved for going out and eating the greasiest burger she could get her hands on. She visited home and Aunt Peggy every Saturday. Tony came by now and then to mess with Fury then go around the academy with Sharon (the only time when people left her alone, because they wouldn’t dare do anything to risk losing SHIELD’s funding).

Then it happened. On day one hundred, they announced the early graduates, whom were allowed to skip ahead to level two after Christmas. Only twenty-three were given the chance this year, out of two hundred and fifty-six students. Sharon is the fourth name down.

“Congratulations,” said the girl next to her. She looked, slightly recognizing her from a few shared classes. Maria Hill from Chicago.

“Uh, thanks?” Sharon replied. She wasn’t used to someone being… nice. Amicable, maybe. But niceness was a rarity.

“You deserve it. You’ve worked hard and held your head high this whole time. It’d be a total rip-off if you weren’t on there,” Maria said. Sharon nodded and looked back at the list. Maria’s name was eight places below her own.

From behind, an elbow jabs Sharon in the back, shoving her into the wall. She doesn’t bother turning to see her assailant, but hears a voice cry out. Sharon looked to see a guy (Brick? Brock? Something like that. She’d only seen him, never met him or shared any classes with him) being pinned against the wall with his right arm twisted behind his back by Maria. She pulled out a pencil and held it close to Brock’s eye.

“Apologize,” she growled.

“Sorry!” Brock exclaimed.

Maria let go, before punching the back of Brock’s head. He cried out as he slammed against the wall face-first and clutched his nose. Sharon gaped in shock.

“What the hell was that?” Sharon demanded.

“What the hell was what?” Maria asked coolly.

“You just assaulted him!”

“No, he assaulted you. I just showed him that being a dick has consequences.”

“You didn’t have to do that!”

“Why not?”

“Do you think that just because I didn’t do anything doesn’t mean I don’t want other people to do something for me? I don’t want to fight back! That’s not what I want to be known for! I’d rather them think that it doesn’t bother me than let them know! That’s what they want, and I don’t want to give them the fucking satisfaction!” Sharon huffed at the end of her rant, her fists clenching and unclenching.

Maria cocked her head to the side, her face still kept neutral. “There’s nothing respectful about letting your ass getting kicked all the time,” she said.

Sharon shook her head. “The same could be said about kicking everyone’s asses back,” she replied.

A smirk. “And that’s why you’re always armed, right?”

Sharon frowned, then furrowed her brows. What was her problem? “What do you want from me?”

“For you to stop being everyone’s doormat. These people are being trained to be capable of taking down anyone at any time, and you’re their constant target. I don’t want you to get killed by taking the brunt of it quietly the whole time,” Maria said with a shrug.

Sharon didn’t know how to respond. She couldn’t tell if Maria was being genuine or if she meant something else entirely. Like maybe a friendship proposal. Or something else. Either way, she didn’t want to think about that now when there was a giant burger with her name on it waiting for her mouth to bite into it. And Tony outside, waiting with his new car that he brought just to show up.

“Um, you wanna hang out? My cousin and I are going to get some burgers if you’re interested,” Sharon said hesitantly.

Maria blinked twice. “I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh.”

“But if you ever want a sparring partner who won’t try to shank you, I’m in four-oh-eight in the sixth quad.”

Sharon smiled. “Yeah. Will do.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharon overhears some locker room gossip. (Day 25 of Sharon Carter Appreciation Month.)

“Did you hear that she slept with Tony Stark?”

Sharon was already finished changing back into her uniform, and her gym clothes back in her workout bag, and was ready to head back to her dorm when she overheard this. She put her things back on the bench and busied herself with doing a tight, neat high ponytail while she listened.

“ _The_ Tony Stark?”

“Yeah. They always go out on Saturday. She always looks dirtier when she comes back too.”

Sharon’s frown deepened. She always looked dirtier because there was nothing clean about eating a triple bacon barbeque cheeseburger with extra fried onions. Grease, ketchup, and mayonnaise always ended up on her chest or lap. Sue her for being a messy eater. What was she supposed to do about that?

“I can’t believe that!”

“I can!”

“Do you think she’s pregnant? I mean, she seems a little rounder, right?”

Sharon looked down at her belly and poked it. It was hard with muscle. She kept a healthy, balanced diet most of the week, with the exception of her cheat-day Saturdays. Had she been gaining weight because of it?

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Do you see all the special treatment she gets from Director Fury and Mister Coulson?”

“I bet she had her _Aunt Peggy_ pull some strings so she could graduate to the next level before she starts to really show.”

Sharon cringed at the tone used when the girl said her aunt’s name, and stared at the floor when she heard the two accompanying laughs. She sat on the bench and rested her elbows on her knees. She knew people talked shit about her behind her back. It was inevitable. But to actually hear them, when they didn’t suspect she was nearby and overhearing them, was a whole other story.

“I bet she also pulled strings to pass the exams too. I heard from my roommate who heard from her ex-boyfriend’s new boyfriend that she wasn’t even working half the time! She must’ve had the answers written on her arm and finished early. It explains why she was one of the top people. No one has ever seen her study!”

That was a lie. She finished fifteen minutes early on the exam, which was all written-answer questions. She also only studied in her dorm, because it was always made clear at the library that she wasn’t welcome. And four other people finished their exams before her! That wasn’t fair! Sharon picked up her things and flung her gym bag over her shoulder. She heard enough. She didn’t want to hear more. She just wanted to vomit and go to sleep for seven years to forget everyone else and how much they clearly disliked her.

She jumped with a gasp at a slam against a locker. What was that?

“Leave. Now.”

Now _that_ was a familiar voice, but she couldn’t tell where she remembered it from. Another slam, and sneakers scurried out the locker room, followed by whispers of “freak” and “fucking psycho”. Sharon didn’t move as she heard soft footsteps come her way. There was a slight sigh of relief, followed by annoyance.

“I told you not to defend me,” she said bitterly.

Maria cocked her head. “I wasn’t defending you. I was just tired of hearing them try to talk and breathe at the same time. I didn’t know you were here until I heard you gasp.”

“Still. Can’t you just ignore them?”

“Because that seems to be working for you.”

Sharon glared at her. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Maria. Sometimes it was annoyance, and others was curiosity. Maria felt like a friend, or maybe someone trying to initiate something else, but either way wanted to be _something_ to her.

Maria shifted her weight to one leg and stuffed her hands in her back pockets. “So, there’s this burger joint that makes a neat veggie burger, if you wanna go grab a bite,” she suggested.

Sharon hesitated. “I have to pack my bags for moving into a new room, but maybe some other time, okay?”

“You know where to find me.”

Sharon stood there as Maria left. She still didn’t know how to feel about her. Maybe there was something there that she would find down the line. Hopefully, there was something there.


End file.
